Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Has $6.74 Million Stock Holdings in Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 113,820 shares of the network equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,078 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Cisco Systems were worth $6,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cisco Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Cisco Systems news, CEO Charles Robbins sold 31,983 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $2,060,025.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 736,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,413,489.20. This represents a 4.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard Scott Herren sold 19,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $1,283,626.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 335,605 shares in the company, valued at $21,616,318.05. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,547 shares of company stock valued at $4,275,553 over the last 90 days. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cisco Systems Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of CSCO opened at $59.77 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Cisco Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.50 and a 12-month high of $66.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.47.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The network equipment provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.14). Cisco Systems had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 26.08%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cisco Systems, Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Cisco Systems declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $15.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the network equipment provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Cisco Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Cisco Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Cisco Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 71.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CSCO. StockNews.com lowered Cisco Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Cisco Systems from $80.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Cisco Systems from $73.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Cisco Systems from $75.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Cisco Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cisco Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.05.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology industry in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China. The company also offers switching portfolio encompasses campus switching as well as data center switching; enterprise routing portfolio interconnects public and private wireline and mobile networks, delivering highly secure, and reliable connectivity to campus, data center and branch networks; wireless products include wireless access points and controllers; and compute portfolio including the cisco unified computing system, hyperflex, and software management capabilities, which combine computing, networking, and storage infrastructure management and virtualization.